Orbital motions of a spacecraft tend to cause drift, for example, in a north-south direction, away from a desired station orientation. To account for this drift, chemical thrusters are utilized to perform station-keeping maneuvers. However, station-keeping maneuvers and other environmental torques tend to produce a momentum accumulation in the spacecraft. To account for this momentum accumulation, chemical thrusters are utilized to unload the accumulated momentum.
The chemical thrusters operate by expelling propellant mass heated by means of a chemical reaction. The more often the chemical thrusters are utilized to unload the accumulated momentum, the more fuel (e.g., propellant) is used, which may have a detrimental impact on the life of the spacecraft.
Accordingly, those skilled in the art continue with research and development efforts in the field of momentum management and fuel efficiency of spacecraft in orbit.